Day 1: Walls of Jerusalem

Starting off nice and early we enlisted a friend to help us with a car shuffle. We dropped our car off at the Lee’s Paddocks carpark and then transferred around to the main Walls of Jerusalem carpark to start our hike.

We headed up the persistent but manageable hill to Trappers Hut. It’s a 370m climb over about 2kms and it took us about 50 minutes.

After a quick snack we headed off the main trail and followed the track down to an unnamed river running through the valley towards George Howes Lake.

The valley through here is gorgeous, dotted with large cushion plants and small lakes.

The river weaves its way through the valley before reaching George Howes Lake where we dropped our bags and headed off to find Tiger Lake and Solitary Man’s hut.

After some lunch at the hut we made our way back to our packs and continued on toward the intersection of Wild Dog Creek and Fish River.

We followed Fish River through Zion Vale and then headed up the Valley of Hinon to connect back with the main walking track that goes up to Mount Jerusalem.

We had such a clear day which made this section so stunning, the mountains were all in view and as such we knew exactly where we were and what we wanted to head toward.

Beautiful stands of Pencil Pine can be found through the Valley of Hinon, giant and ancient trees just living their best lives in this idyllic spot.

By the time we reached the main track we were both feeling quite exhausted, the walking through the valley is very uneven and makes for a tiresome day!

So, we decided to head to Dixon’s to set up camp for the night.

We spend the afternoon setting up a bomber tarp/tent home as we knew we were in for some wild weather that night, enjoyed the Eastern Quolls and a delicious spicy pork ramen for tea!

Total Time: 6 hours

Total Distance: 14kms

Day 2: Dixon’s Kingdom to Lake Adelaide

Today we woke up to a bit of a blizzard whipping through camp. This day was planned to be a bit of a chill day to climb some mountains or just relax around camp, life has been hectic so we wanted to make sure we allowed time to relax!

We decided to skip climbing the mountains, the weather would have made it a bit miserable and dangerous. Instead, we had a very slow morning and decided to relocate to Lake Adelaide.

The walk from Dixon’s to Lake Ball is quite pleasant now that the track work has been completed, the last time either of us came through this area it was all off track, find your own way hiking.

Once we reached Lake Ball we found some Deciduous Myrtle which was an absolute highlight for us!

It took half an hour to reach the Lake Ball hut where we stopped for a snack and a look around the hut and the campsites on the edge of the Lake – on a nice day this would be such a beautiful place to camp.

As we continued on around the edge of Lake Ball the weather started to clear which was an unexpected treat. This section around the lake is one of my favourites. I love the creek system feeding into the lake on the western side.

The sun came out just before the climb down to Lake Adelaide so we pulled up for lunch and enjoyed the warmth while we could!

It’s a short hike down the hill to Lake Adelaide but by the time we arrived the weather closed in on us so again, we spend the afternoon creating a shelter so that we could sit outside and enjoy the camp.

On hikes where there are no huts to shelter into we bring a small tarp along, this just makes it so much more enjoyable when the weather does come in as you don’t need to hide in the tent.

Total Time: 3 hours

Total Distance: 8.9km

Day 3 – Lake Adelaide to Junction Lake Hut

This was a longer day for us today, we had some distance to cover as we wanted to spend the night at Junction Lake before tackling the Never Never.

That being said, we still had quite a leisurely morning and enjoyed taking our time on the trail.

More deciduous myrtle today as we came around the edge of Lake Adelaide. The walk around Lake Adelaide always takes longer than what I think it should, it is a more challenging section of the trail but we were lucky to have the weather continue to clear so we could enjoy beautiful views of the lake along the way.

As we left Lake Adelaide and continued South to Lake Meston the sun came out and warmed us up. We were aiming to have lunch at the Lake Meston hut so just stopped for a little morning tea break at the northern end of Lake Meston before continuing on.

Arriving at the hut is always such a treat, it’s nestled in on the edge of Mount Rogoona and, despite the mousey smell inside, is a welcoming place to arrive at.

After fueling up with some lunch we headed off on the last stretch of our day down to Junction Lake.

The fungus started to appear in this section around the bottom half of the track around Lake Meston and as we entered Mayfield flats the sun came out once again. The track can be a bit tricky to follow through here as, what can look like a track will sometimes turn into a wombat trail. As you near the hut the track comes to a junction, large pieces of timber marking the track not to take. Taking a left turn at the junction took us down to Junction Lake Hut where we spent the night (due to an overwhelming stench of rat we decided to stay in the tent for the night).

 Total Time: 6 hours

Total Distance: 18.9km

Day 4 – The Never Never (and my birthday)

We have been wanting to hike through the Never Never for years! In fact, Oscar had hiked through here as a young child of 7 years old.

We’ve heard horror stories of the mud, thick bush, impossibly hard track to follow etc so we started out with fairly low expectations on how much we’d enjoy this section of track.

It may have been because of our low expectations going in, but we were both absolutely blown away by the beauty and magic of the area this track takes you through.

Following the Mersey River as it leaves Junction Lake all the way around the Catherdral Mountain range and to the top of Hartnett Falls, our minds were blown.

We were very lucky that this day was a clear day so visibility was not an issue, we had views of Feather Falls coming down the Cathedral Mountain Range and were able to use that to place ourselves on the map and felt confident in our navigation the whole way through.

I think we were also lucky to have walked through after a particularly dry summer so there were no boggy or muddy sections to negotiate.

The fungus was in full swing and we easily spent an extra hour or more just stopping, admiring, photographing and swooning over the different species we were coming across.

The Mersey River is largely fringed by rainforest in the Never Never section which we absolutely adored walking through.

Once we reached the top of Hartnett Falls there was definite hesitation to cross over and leave the Never Never behind, we would have been quite happy to continue on along a track like that for the rest of our trip. We had also just spend the last few days being the only people on the track so hearing the voices of the Overland Track hikers and knowing our solitude was over was a bit daunting….. that and the impending cold we would feel crossing the river kept us on the Never Never side procrastinating for longer than we really needed to.

Eventually we bit the bullet, crossed the river and entered ‘civilisation’ again, but not for long :-)

Total Time – 7 hours

Total Distance – 13km

Day 5 – Lee’s Paddocks via Paddy Hartnett Track

Today we headed off for Lee’s Paddocks via the Paddy Hartnett Track.

Another track we had not done before and one that also has a reputation for being a bush bash at best and hard to find.  

This track follows the Mersey River once again but on the other side of the river to the Never Never and by the time the Paddy Hartnett Track reaches the Mersey river, the river has done a full U-Turn around the Cathedral Mountain Range and is flowing in a mostly northern direction.

As such, the vegetation was remarkably different, still rain forest but on a much more sloped terrain and a bit more densely vegetated.

Again, we had the perfect day for it, blue skies and sunshine so visibility again was on our side.

Walking these tracks we find is so much fun as you are constantly on the lookout for where the trail goes, you are switched on to your immediate environment and really taking it all in.

Once we reached the Mersey River we found a beautiful big slab rock and lay on that like lizards taking in the warmth and enjoying some snacks before we continued on toward Lee’s Paddocks.

The Paddocks are an absolute sight to see!

The impressive Cathedral Mountain Range fringes the eastern side at the base of which the Mersey River continues to flow and to the West is Mount Pelion East. The banks of the Mersey contain a small section of forest before it opens up into large flat grass lands which have been historically used for grazing cattle.

The land up here is privately owned and we were lucky enough to bump into the Wadley family just before arriving at the Reg Wadley Hut.

They had come up with their horses and a herd of cattle and were out enjoying the beautiful day that it was.

To see the horses and cattle up here was just so magical.

We continued on to Lee’s Paddock hut for our last night out on this epic adventure.

It’s worth noting here that, as it is private land, if you are intending to hike through/camp in the Lee’s Paddocks you should give the land owners a call before you head out –

Judy Kilby 0439 334 663

Grant Evans 0408 133 421

Total Time – 4 hours

Total Distance – 5.2 km

Day 6 – Home!

Our last day on the trail and a fairly short one at that!

The track from the Lee’s Paddocks hut continues to follow the Mersey River as it turns once again to flow in an Easterly direction before a large bridge crosses the river and the track connects up to the Mersey Forest Road.

We spent the morning following the track of the horse and cattle that had walked in days prior reminiscing the past few days and planning for our next adventure (and dreaming of the pie and beer we were going to have on reaching the Tiger Bar in Mole Creek)

Total Time – 2.5 hours

Total Distance – 9.3km